The tide of public opinion is not in favour of a dare-devil boy who engaged an armed guard in one-on-one combat at a shopping mall in Uganda and got shot in the process.
A viral CCTV footage recorded around 6 pm at Gwanda Mall, in Kisenyi Parish, Kampala Central, Uganda on June 3rd, 2024, shows a young boy, later identified as Kantongole attacking an armed guard at the entrance of the mall.
According to reports, Kalyebi Ismail, a security guard working at SGA, was on duty at Gwanda Mall when he apprehended Katongole, for suspected criminal activities.
He is seen escorting the boy out of the mall when he turns on the guard throwing punches and kicks.
At a point, the boy grabs hold of the gun and tries to wrench it out of the hands of the guard.
The struggle continues for another few seconds with the boy tugging at the gun from its nuzzle before a shot rings out felling the boy.
Kalyebi Ismail shot Katongole in the waist, incapacitating him. The guard is then seen walking away from the camera view.
It was gathered that the territorial police units of Muzaana and Old Kampala rushed to the scene and evacuated the victim to Mulago Hospital, where he is currently receiving medical treatment for a gunshot wound to the stomach.
Kalyebi Ismail reportedly disappeared from his duty post and is currently being sought by the Ugandan police.
Viewers of the incident, however, are mostly against the boy who got shot, as they pointed out that he was the one who threw the first punch and attempted to disarm the guard.
Read some comments:
@MrJapola: “Please I beg u drag gun like this with US police officer as a black man. This video was over 1 minute. Yours will be 5 seconds to collect. The least any civilian should attempt is to drag a weapon with an officer in uniform, you go collect and nothing will follow.”
@fifthborn9: “You can’t grab an officer’s weapon and then try to collect it from him, that’s a “direct attempt” on his life esp if you are/were a “suspect”, the directly threatened officer who “feared for his life” would most likely be excused. It’s just not worth it
@les00195: “The gun is for your safety first. He was even more than tolerant. The guy was already calling some mobs.. and if he had gotten the gun it would have been many more tragedies”
@samir_sire: “He was clearly trying to disarm a uniformed personnel. There’s no case here as the security personnel acted in self-defense.”
@Nigmarelli: “Couldn’t the policeman or whatever have subdued him somehow without having to use his gun? As someone who had training with a military outfit, these are the first things they teach you about self-defence. Only use your weapon as a last resort except the fellow is armed.”
@Sikowitz17: “You say all of that after watching that same video? Which military outfits are you training with?”
@balogin: “See rubbish talk from you. Don’t ever engage an armed man, don’t even try it. U will only go to your ancestors early.”
@JustECP: “He acted in self-defense and there’s video evidence”
Watch the clip here and form your own judgement.
